Compromise rail-joint bar



v June 10, 1930.

COMPOMISE RAIL JOINT BAR Filed June 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l lr MMM l li v 3mm/tor lL. Brcvne,

. D. l.. BRAINE -1,763,501

Patented June 10, 1930 "UNITED STATES PATENT orsi-cs DANIEL LAWRENCE BRAINN, or BnooKLYN, NEW YORK, AssIeNon rro THE RAIL .ro-INT COMPANY, or Nnvv Yonai, N. Y., A conronA'rroN 'or NEW YORK coMrRoMIsn RAIL-Joint* Ban App'iietion niet turret, 19'2'9. serial No. 368,609.

This invention relates to compromise vor step join bars forconnecting and holding Vthe ends lof railsof diderent sections with the gage and `surface of the rails 'in alinement, and

5 `has far its general object to provide a highly efficient bar of this type which is capable `of being produced by an economical forging operation.

More particularly, itis a purpose of the present invention to provide al compromise rai-l joint bar of the general type disclosed in Armstrong Patent 1,663,619, involving a balanced distribution of metal in the head and food portions thereof and having a trun- `i5 catedor cut-*od footfiange toprovide'atoeless formation which overlies the rail `jflange. Also to provide `a medial reinforcement which substantially strengthens the bar in the lower 4chord of the girder where added strength is required due to the absence ofthe usual foot lan'ge'of the bar. Furthermore, the invention has in view 'to utilize these desirable features in a bar which has its loading engagement with the head fillet of the rail, as in the socalled headfree 'type of rail joint.`

By 'making the bar 'of a toeless formation theconstruction `of the forging `dies is greatly simplified, and their cost isminifmized, due to the number of angularly related surfaces constituting the die impressions being minimized. Moreover, by this fconstruction all spike slotting problems are eliminated.

Due to the hammer clearance `which must be provided between the fdies and `to the wear of the dies in the fishing fit, it is apparent that after a number of bars have been formed by a set of dies in which each die includes both fishings, as is the practice, `proper fit of the bar rishings with the rail fishings becomes increasingly diiiicult to obtain. However, by forming the present bar with railhead clearance, that is, of the headfree type, the same* will satisfactorily fit the rails irrespective of any slight inaccuracies in the fishl ing surfaces of the bar. Also, by forming the bar ofthis head-free type, the dies may c'oiiveniently be parted at the outer fillet of the head `of the barsothat merely rough trimming of the flashings'produced at this point 5U as a result of the forging 'operation 'all that is necessary, since with the head-free construction, any slight projection at the outer fillet `of the head of the bar will not interfere with the fit of the bar with the rail fishing surfaces. Y

By forming the bar with a substantially equal distribution of metal in the head and foot therof, the bar may readily be forged from a flat or rectangular shape, as the vmetal will easily distribute itself in the dies. This also A'greatly facilitates the cooling of the bar byeliminating warpingand twisting thereof,

and facilitates heat treating of the bar inasmuch as the substantially uniform section of the bar' permits an `even penetration of heat. *l

Reinforcing the bar at the point of .j unction offthe high and low fishing sections there- `of provides strength where the bar ordinarily wouldbe weakened by vertically and lateral-ly oifsettingsame to provide the low fishing section thereof. In accord-ance with the present invention said reinforcement is disposed so as not to interfere with proper engagement of the bar with the rails, nor with seating of the rails on the ties, andis so placed and rail joint constructed in accordance with the present joint bar.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rail joint shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.A 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line H of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 2. l v

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings. y

As previously stated, the present bar, designated generally as A, preferably is a forged product, and consists of a high fishing section H to ft the high rail lt of the 'step joint cornbination of rails with which the bar is intended for use, and a low fishing section L vertically and laterally offset with respect to the high fishing section, to fit the low rail R of the rail combination. Also, each of the sec-- tions H and L of the bar preferably consists of a head 10, a web 11 and a foot 12. Preferably the head 10 is provided throughout its length with an outer reinforcing rib 13.

In accordance with the present invention the bar A is of toeless formation inthe sense that no part of either the high or the low fishing section thereof projects beyond the outer edge of the flange of its related rail.

However, a narrow stiffening flange 14 eX-v tends outwardly from the foot 12 of eachsection of the bar to afford a spike head-bearing surface, this abbreviated flange terminating the said head of the bar has a loading env gagement or bearing only at the headlillet of the rail. Moreover, the upper and lower 'halves of each section of the bar are formed with a substantially balanced distribution of metal to compensate for any weakness resulting from truncating the conventional foot flange with its toe to make the bar of the socalled toeless type withits abbreviated flange 14. Y

The reinforcement 16 atA the junction of the high and low fishing sections H and L'is'disposed entirely within theupper and lower limits of the outer Icontour of the bar and between the two inner bolt'holes.A Said reinforcement is preferably in the form of a rib or enlargement of any desired width, extending from its merger withA the h ead reinforcingrib 18 downwardly and inwardly towards a middle portion of the web,11,fand thence outwardly and downwardly towards and merging into the foot flange portion 14. `A portion 17 of said reinforcement is formed to overlie the outer edge of the flange of the low rail R rat the endjthereof, this portion 17 extending preferably over the inner bolt Vhole of the low fishing section L to afford additional strength for the toe of the low fishing section of the bar. j This reinforcing metal 17 is at theouter side of the bar and is in the form preferably ofV a vertical swell of the foot flange 14C` in,` order to provideadd'ed strength `and reinforcelnentV to the lower chord of the bar -girder in the verticalplane of theeffective reinforcement produced by the merger of the reinforcing lnetal with the upper outer rib 13.

From the foregoing description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is believed the advantages of the present joint bar will be fully appreciated. As before stated the toeless design of the bar permits of same being produced economically by a forging operation; the head-free feature not onlya'ords very satisfactory manufacturing tolerance limits but. avoids the necessity of anything more than roughly removing the flashing resulting from parting the forging dies at the outer fillet of the head of the bar, which point of parting the -dies has been found highly satisfactory in manufacture of the bar; by providing a substantially balanced distribution of metal in the upper and lower `halves of the'bar strength is maintained despite elimination of the usual toe, *and at the sametime the metal will readily distribute itself properly between the forging dies and the cooling and heat treating process is facilitated; and by reason of the special form and specially disposed medial reinforcement 16 with its swell 17 the bar is possessed of material strength and stiffness at the junction of its high and low fishing sections. v

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages ofthe invention will be `readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be unf derstood that changes inthe form, proportion and minor details of construction may be 100 resorted to, without departingv from the spirit of the invention Vand scope of the appended claims. i

I claim: n

1. A compromise rail joint including the 105 rail, and a bar having ahead portion provided at its inner side with a bearing member for .engaging .the rail head fillet and at its outer side with a longitudinal reinforcing rib, said bar also being provided with a foot V1,10 portion of toeless formation and having a narrow reinforcing flange longitudinally of the bar and an integral bodyfof reinforcing metal at the outer-side of the bar between the inside bolt holes and 'integrated with the rib of the 1 15 bar headand with the flange of the bar foot.

2. A toeless compromise joint bar inclusive lof a reinforcement at the junction of the Vhigh and low fishing sections thereof, said reinforcement being inclusive .of a flange disposed within the plane of the outer edge of the flange of the high rail and to overlie the outer edge of the rflange of the low rail of the step j ointcombination of rails with which the .bar isadapted for use.

3. Acompromise rail joint-including the rail,a bar provided `with a foot portion of toeless formation havingra reinforcing rib extending.longitudinally ofthe bar inside the plane ofthe outeredge of the Harige of the 150 CII high rail, and a body of reinforcing metal integrated with said reinforcing rib and With the Web of the har and disposed Substantially Within the plane of the outer edge of said rib.

n testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

DANEL LAWRENCE BRAINE. 

